GMO Labeling

The term GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) was instilled in my mind after i watched the film 'The Future of Food' on how the agricultural biotech company Monsanto conceived seeds of manipulated genes, patented, and spread them throughout the world via their lobbying power. This movie was like a horror science fiction to me, the difference was all the material were real! :-(

I think GMO food labeling is long overdue not only in California but the whole country so when i learned about the campaign to gather signatures for GMO labeling initiative in the upcoming november ballot, organized by LabelGMOs.org and CaRighttoKnow.org , i volunteered to be a signature gatherer.

After ten weeks, from February to April, almost 1 million signatures (971,126) were collected from California registered voters and this morning i went to a state-wide event in Norwalk to celebrate the turning-in of signatures to the gorvenment official.



Boxes of signed petitions waiting to be delivered to government official












Zuri Allen


Stacey Hall




Sasha Earnheart Gold

Government official to receive the boxes of signed petitions








It is sad that the GMO labeling had to be initiated by the people and not by govermenent agency like USDA, FDA, EPA which were created to protect the public from food that could do harm to the body and environment.

I can't wait for the day when i walk into the supermarket and see two signs for corn, one is just 'Corn' and the other 'GMO Corn' so each one of us could have the right to choose which corn (and many other food) we want to feed ourselves with.

However, if the initiative was made into law it will exempt some food that i think should be labeled such as animal meat fed with GMO seeds.

Coming back from the event i stumbled on this news and the phrase "God Bless America" suddendly came into my mind.

In 2007 President Obama, during his presidential campaign, promised to have GMO labeled. Click here to read his quote. I sent an email to him through the White House website regarding this promise and i am waiting to hear a reply.

More pictures here

Monsanto's Minions in California

Monsanto cafeteria bans GMO food

Battle Brewing Over Labeling of Genetically Modified Food

The Future of Food (movie)

GMO film 1 (video)

GMO film 2 (video)

King Corn (movie)

One Man One Cow One Planet (movie)

The Omnivore's Dilemma

They wont let us label GMOs in the US

http://archive.truthout.org/the-new-earthquake-manifest-haiti-monsantos-destiny66930

Haitian farmers burn Monsanto aid seeds/

http://grist.org/food/fda-to-gmo-labeling-campaign-what-millon-signatures/

Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe To Eat?

Slow Food USA to build 1000 Gardens in Africa

Drawing White Tara

You probably wonder what/who White Tara is :-)

White Tara is a female Bodhisattva in Buddhism. She is connected with compassion, good health, and longevity.

The mantra for White Tara is OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA AYURPUNYE JNANA PUTIN KURU SVAHA, the short form is OM TARE (liberating from samsara) TUTTARE (liberating from the eight fears) TURE (liberating from disease) SVAHA (so may it be)

I learned about White Tara from Garchen Rinpoche when he came to teach in Southern California. When the Dalai Lama came to teach in Long Beach i got some White Tara postcards by Andy Weber from England, who spent seven years living and studying the iconographical art of Tibetan Buddhism from accomplished masters in India and Nepal.

Last weekend Andy Weber came to Los Angeles to conduct a two-day retreat/workshop at the Asian Classic Institute of Los Angeles (ACI-LA) and i had a chance to learn how to draw White Tara with this wonderful artist and scholar. It was a spiritually and artistically inspiring experience.

Here's a painting of White Tara by Andy



There is a method to the art of drawing and painting icons in Tibetan Buddhism. The method is grid-based, and since deity like White Tara represents enlightened being who emanates a sense of perfection, exact symmetry and proportion is very important in drawing many features such as head, face, body, hands, ornamentations.

Each day we spent about 8 hours in class. The class always began which a meditation session and mantra citing led by the teacher. I love this part because it put me in a contemplative and centering state so i could mindfully draw with the awareness of what White Tara represents. Andy Weber's mantra chanting was wonderful and with closed eyes i thought it came from a Tibetan Lama :-)

We started out drawing the head






Then combining the head and the body. For the White Tara the head is slightly tilted to one side





All details in the picture have spiritual meanings. For example her left hand holds the stem of the Utpala flower representing her knowledge of past, present and future. The open flower shows the past, the closed the future and the just-opening bud the present. Through Andy's explanation i learned to look at picture of White Tara with much more understanding and appreciation. His book "Images of Enlightenment Tibetan Arts in Practice" is a wonderful resource on Tibetan Buddhist art.





Adding the ornamentations





Almost there :-)








Final version



Besides beginners like me there were other students in the class who had previously attended Andy's workshops and they were working on the color version



Andy also taught us how to make our own canvas using a wooden frame (made by his son) and a sheet of fabric



and shared with us his use of natural colors in a mandata painting



I had such a joyful time and could not believe that i was able to make drawing of this beautiful deity (i have to say that my drawing is far from making her justice :-)).

Thank you Andy!

OM Shanti

A Closer Look

"Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain."
Henry David Thoreau


I try to keep my eyes closer to the subjects of interest because many times i discovered wonderful patterns and designs

Queen of the night is one of my favorite flowers. This particular kind starts blooming in the late evening into the night and at the same time releases an intoxicating fragrance. The flower is ivory white in full bloom. It wilts the next morning. This one is a closeup of the flower once it's over, my very first attemp to look closer :-)



Lotus is another flower that i love but the close-up below is of the leaf



At the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden i saw a group of cactus plants and the leaves have fascinating patterns on them



I was waiting for my carwash and i saw this in one of the planters :-)



This water pattern looks like a meshed necklace



On the hiking trails i love to look closely at the tree trunks



and new growths like these at Eaton Canyon Nature Center





Do you see the tiny 'feets' that cling so tightly to the walls?



One day i went to the beach and looking down on the sand i saw these forests



i was so fascinated so i kept shooting for hours. Some people gave me strange looks as if they wondered what i was looking at. You can click here for the slide show.

Later on the same beach when the sun began to set the reflection on the sand was quite spectacular





These were taken at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve



this one reminds me of the black jelly drink that i like very much when i was still living in Vietnam :-)



I have so much fun looking closer :-)

Amalfi Coast

This is the most beautiful coastline that i have been to. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When i went there in May 2004 the weather was fantastic, pleasant temperature in the low 70s and the sky was always clear, blue with floating white clouds.

We stayed in Maiori



and made day trips to nearby town like Amalfi



I love wandering the narrow streets, looking up to see laundry being hang above my head



browsing the colorful store fronts





making stop for the sweet treats :-)



The quaint, charming little town of Ravello was a little piece of heaven, with wonderful views of the coast and lemon orchards. This gem of a town has been the favorite of many famous figures from all walks of life, here's a list in case you wonder who they are :-). I sure envy those who live there,



the blue of the sea and sky seemed to merge into each other







Two of the most famous spots on the Amalfi Coast are located in Ravello. One is the historic Villa Cimbrone, built in the 11th century, which were frequented by many artistic, literary, and political figures like T. S. Eliot, Greta Garbo, Leopold Stokowsky, Henry Moore, Jaqueline Kennedy, Winston Churchill ...








The other is Villa Rufolo with breathtaking view of the coast from it magnificently manicured floral gardens





Did you see the lizard? ;-)

The volcanic soil of the Amalfi coast was great for growing lemons and the thick, juicy skins of these lemons are used to create a sweet and tangy liqueur called limoncello which is found everywhere, served chilled, so refreshing and great for the warm Mediterranean climate. Limoncello is usually used as an after-dinner 'digestivo'



Driving up and down the coast could be a hair-raising experience because the road was so narrow, barely wider than the width of two buses, but scenery is nothing short of spectacular! Slide show for large format




Hope to be back someday ...